Stories from the Leader in Electronic Printing Technologies

3D printed electronics enables Germany’s PHYTEC to go from idea to prototype in one day

With increasing pressure to get new products to market faster, companies are constantly looking for ways to accelerate their product development cycle. In electronics development, traditional manufacturing techniques mean long and expensive lead times. Many companies find that the time it takes for numerous design iteration cycles significantly impacts product development projects.

Manufacturers of a broad range of applications share a common interest in learning how conductive inks for 3D printers can improve their end products, simplify their manufacturing processes, and lower their costs. Whether they develop RFID antennas, sensors, contacts and traces, ceramic cores or other electronic circuits, there is increasing attention being paid to the features and benefits of specialty inks.

You may have asked the question, "what does the future hold for 3D Printing?" Nano Dimension's predictions for the next few years were recently published by 3D Printing Industry (3DPI) as part of a series of leadership articles written by additive manufacturing experts and 3D printing industry insiders.

Conductive inks are instrumental in the development of modern electronics, as they enable a simpler, cleaner and more cost-effective way to lay down conductive traces. Emerging applications for conductive inks include RFID tags, 3D antennas, glucose sensors, and automative occupancy detection- just to name a few. The growing list of use cases has analyst predicting that the conductive inks market will reach nearly $4 billion by 2021.

At Electronica in Munich last November, attendees had an opportunity to see up close and personally some interesting options for printed electronics, including both the much-anticipated inkjet digital 3D printing and the more established screen printing.

Today, we’re pleased to announce the delivery of our first DragonFly 2020 3D Printer in Europe, to PHYTEC in Germany. The DragonFly 2020 3D Printer, for the production of professional multilayer printed circuit boards (PCBs) and 3D circuity, will be installed at PHYTEC's headquarters in Mainz, Germany.

If you’re looking for an opportunity to learn how to print metals and polymers simultaneously, come visit Nano Dimension booth, Hall 3.1, Stand B60F at formnext 2016 in Frankfurt, November 15 - 18. Visitors will be able to see the DragonFly 2020 3D Printer, which is the world’s first 3D printer designed specifically for the production of professional multilayer printed circuit boards (PCBs) and 3D circuitry for rapid prototyping. Learn how to create professional electronic prototypes with conductive and insulating materials in one print job, for electronics design verification and functional performance.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) has published an article on the seven startups that are driving innovation in 3D printing and Nano Dimension is on the list!

“The hype of consumer 3D printing might be fizzling, but the excitement continues to build for industrial applications. It’s a market still ripe for innovation and as expected there has been a surge of startup activity in the field of additive manufacturing.,” says Chitra Sethi, Managing Editor ASME.org.

By Simon Fried, Chief Business Officer and Co-Founder of Nano Dimension

Companies developing printers capable of printing 3D electronics for Aerospace and Defense companies (A&D) face many challenges to ensure high performance and reliability to meet industry specifications and standards. In part 1 of this article, I listed some of the challenges in the development of parts for the A&D industry. In part 2, I will discuss how 3D-printed electronics can get innovative PCB ideas off the ground quickly.

By Simon Fried, Chief Business Officer and Co-Founder of Nano Dimension

Additive manufacturing offers obvious benefits for a range of industries, but perhaps none more so than aerospace and defense (A&D). In this two-part series, I will first list some of the challenges in the development of parts for the A&D industry. In part 2, I will discuss possible approaches to addressing these challenges via 3D-printed electronics to get innovative ideas off the ground quickly.